Grand Rapids Among MN Cities Looking at Opening Municipal Cannabis Shop

176 cities across the state already run municipal liquor stores, and now the City of Grand Rapids is one of 13 cities in the state looking at opening municipal cannabis stores.

Grand Rapids is the only city in northern Minnesota considering that option, according to information compiled by MinnPost from the Minnesota Office of Cannabis Management.

One difference compared to city liquor stores is that a city with municipal liquor doesn’t need to allow private liquor stores within its limits, but it can’t monopolize cannabis in the same way. The Minnesota cannabis law requires cities to have one retail cannabis business per every 12,500 residents, and municipal cannabis stores don’t count toward the total.

Recreational cannabis was legalized in Minnesota in 2023, but the first licenses were only issues earlier this summer. It may still be weeks or months before the first non-Native American recreational cannabis stores open up.